Motor Racing Nirvana

[Loki]

Would Schumi go to Sauber? That's be a bit humiliating for him. I'd love him to become the number 2 driver at Ferrari, but that'd never happen for obvious reasons.

If he can't get a drive with one of the top 3/4 teams, then he'll retire I reckon.

 

Does anyone else think this is a mistake by Hamilton? I mean, Robb Brawn is great and all that, but he's not produced a race winning car in years let alone a championship (unless I'm forgetting a Rosberg win earlier this year?)

 

I can see next season being a big frustration for Hamilton.

[windoesnot]

Would Schumi go to Sauber? That's be a bit humiliating for him. I'd love him to become the number 2 driver at Ferrari, but that'd never happen for obvious reasons.

If he can't get a drive with one of the top 3/4 teams, then he'll retire I reckon.

 

Does anyone else think this is a mistake by Hamilton? I mean, Robb Brawn is great and all that, but he's not produced a race winning car in years let alone a championship (unless I'm forgetting a Rosberg win earlier this year?)

 

I can see next season being a big frustration for Hamilton.

 

Last title Ross Brawn had was 2009 with Brawn GP who became Mercedes and have come nowhere near to such performance since. The win at China this year was very much a one off.

 

I think the move by Lewis has as much to do with Simon Fuller being in his ear as anything else, thinking more about 'Brand Hamilton' than results. I see next year being difficult for him. 2014 may hold more promise with the big changes coming for that year.

 

I see Schumacher retiring, he simply has no need to carry on and proved his ability and legacy in his first career. Going to Sauber however would renew a very old partnership with Peter Sauber going back to the Mercedes sports car era of the very early 90's so that may tempt him but I just dont see him continuing.

Edited September 28, 2012 by windoesnot

[jimufctna24]

I have a list of pros and cons

 

Pros

 

- Like Senna in 1990-1993 and Schumi in 1996-2006, he now has a team basically based around him. Alonso has this today at Ferrari

 

- With new regulations in 2014, it will be put luck to see who gets the best car, just like it was in 2009 and Ross Brawn provided the pick of the bunch them

 

- He gets more money

 

- Like Schumi with Ferrari in the mid ninties, he will get credit for moving to a team and improving their performnce, no one can say he won just because he got a great car, much like my critique of Vettel.

 

- Whilst he is maybe not the all round driver that Alonso is yet, he is the fastest driver in F1. Any failure at Mercedes and we all know why, people will think he is being wasted not underperforming

 

Cons

 

- New regulations are not present next year, so 2013 is going to be trying like Loki said

 

- If 2014 goes wrong he is stuck in a bad car for years of his prime

 

- Alonso and Vettel his main rivals have deals for the immediate future at proven cars, they may collect a significant amount of Championships while Lewis struggles

 

- History says this can go wrong, Jacques Villenerve at BAR and Senna only 20 years ago turned down a deal with Jordan because he did not trust them to make him the best despite him being the best driver and having full control.

 

- While they will not critique his driving ability unless he stops colliding with people again, people will think its a terrible move and consider him a moron for listening to his management company.

 

 

As a whole I do not know how this will turn out, its a big and some will say reckless list by a man who I think is the best driver in F1 today. The real winner is Perez who may head to head, beat Button next year and even may be up there in the Championship.

 

Sauber whilst a Ferrari B team in many ways is a choice for Schumi, as on some tracks it has proven to be up there with the big boys, it has been better than Mercedes and Williams at most races this year and quicker than Ferrari itself on occasions. I think Schumi will call it a day though.

 

I think Massa will stay

Edited September 28, 2012 by jimufctna24

[Loki]

I read today that he's not been offered No 1 position at Mercedes, he and Rosberg will both be treated equally. Surprised he agreed to that.

[LariatTom]

Thought I'd throw my thoughts into the hat (and it kills a bit of time before the end of my shift...it's one of those days).

 

Hamilton going to Mercedes really didn't come as much of a shock to me. He's apparently been wanting a way out of Mclaren since last year (if you believe the Red Bull rumours to be true) and with his contract up at the end of this year and the potential for some movement in the driver market, it makes sense for him to go. Obviously, it's a bit of a risk since Mercedes aren't a winning team at the moment bar Rosberg's victory earlier in the year, but this is Hamilton's chance to REALLY prove himself. If, like Schumacher at Ferrari, he can build a team around him and take them from being on the fringe of podiums/victories to a strong, championship winning team, then he's done one of the hardest things in F1.

 

If he has a poor year in 2013, then we can almost be certain that it's because the Brackley squad haven't given him a good enough car. If he's looking further afield to 2014 though, then there's a chance he's sitting in a very good position. Brawn has already said that he reckons his team have a good chance in 2014 with the new regulations and engine change, and as we know from 2009, Brawn is pretty good at pulling a good car out of the bag when there are major changes in the technical regulations.

 

Rosberg being promised equal status is a little more surprising, but I think it's only fair that they start off as equals. Chances are that Lewis will establish himself as the quicker driver and there will be a natural shift of power in his favour...but why consign Nico to number 2 from the very beginning? If he thinks he can beat Lewis (and he has to, otherwise he's already beaten) then he needs to know that they're starting the 2013 season on the same footing.

 

What's next for Schumacher? He's lost his seat at Mercedes because he took too long to make a decision about next year and whether he wants to keep driving...if he'd said earlier in the season that he wanted to stay, he'd be staying. Honestly, I reckon he could go to Sauber for a few years. They've already said they feel good about next year's car and I think it was Alonso who was reported as saying that Schumacher could have won the last three races if he were driving a Sauber. If they can give him a car as strong as this year's car, then he'd have to be hoping for podiums and maybe a win.

 

I may as well throw in what the German press are saying since I see far more of that than UK press at the moment. The majority of articles and pieces I've seen about Schumacher's future say that he's probably going to Sauber. Ferrari is a bit of an optimist's dream and supposedly thinking of offering him a seat in one of their WEC cars.

 

Sauber or retirement are the two real options. And if he does leave F1, then the passion for racing is still there. I wonder whether he'd be interested in a return to sportscar racing and having a crack at a drive in the WEC...

[windoesnot]

If you didnt already know, Schui has officially annouced he will be retiring from F1 again at the end of this season.

[BigJag]

Yeah. Best thing for him. Why tarnish his legacy any further. Hopefully he stays around and helps to develop Mercedes or another team. I can't see him being a mentor for Hamilton. Rosberg maybe.

Wasn't Vettel someone he helped nurture?

[windoesnot]

Wasn't Vettel someone he helped nurture?

 

From memory he inspired rather than nurtured Vettel.

 

Heres an old picture of them at the Kerpen Kart Circuit

 

Edited October 4, 2012 by windoesnot

[jimufctna24]

Funnily enough I have been watching the 2003 and 2004 season reviews this week on Sky, his last world title wins.

 

2004 was a bit of a gift, he had a car well better than the rest as shown that Rubens was second by a great margin,no one can tell me Rubens was a better driver than Juan and Kimi in 2004 it was all in the car. But 2003 he had to fight for it against good drivers in good cars.

 

For me the 2000 season and the 2003 season are the best examples of Schumachers greatness. Much like how I believe I can state if Alonso wins this year it will be his finest hour as he has proven himself as a great driver, not just a good driver in a superior car.

 

In the words of Martin Brundle "Best of all time? No I am a Senna man" but there is no doubt if you look at stats he is the best even if I do not think he was the best driver although he is up there on my list.

 

I hope this is for good, to be honest I wish he had never comeback. Maybe if he would have won in 2006 he would have gotten more closure or maybe he just missed racing at the highest level. Either way enjoy yourself Michael, you maybe a smug git but I actually quite like you

[windoesnot]

I always think of 1995 as his best season. He was not in the best car (the Williams was by a good margin) but he still won the title comfortably, and as much as I despised him at the time being a Hill fan, he was the class of the field.

 

And despite his dick dastardly attempt failing him in the final race, 1997 was a very strong year as again he fought against a Williams far quicker than any other car and almost won the title.

[jimufctna24]

Hill retired 7 times in 1995, his car was either accident prone or he was very unlucky because he was not the type to be over aggressive. 1997, he was class but no one will remember that, as said his "dick dastardly" attempt will be.

 

Its funny that Jacques was seen as the hero, because nowadays I think Schumi is a flawed by nice enough guy, whilst I think Jacques is a complete cock.

 

I was a Hill fan growing up as well

[LariatTom]

I've been watching the 1996 season over the last few weeks after finding my old videotapes of the season and converting them all to watch on my laptop. That F310 was a complete dog of a car for the majority of the season, but Schumacher was able to wrangle some fantastic results out of the car. At the N

[CurryAngel]

For me, Schumacher is the greatest F1 driver of all time. His comeback obviously hasn't been successful but it's been good watching a 40+ year old doing something he obviously loves for the joy rather than the statistics. I think he actually gained more fans in his second career than he did in his first, showing a more human side probably endeared him more than the "win at all costs" man of yesteryear.

 

Read an absolute nonsense column in the Daily Mirror which says he's only the 11th greatest driver of all time (behind Giles Villeneuve, Alonso and LEWIS HAMILTON amongst others.)

 

Michael Schumacher is hailed as a legend who won a staggering 91 Grands Prix.

 

The statistics, they say, speak volumes for his talent, speed, commitment and raw genius.

 

Rubbish.

 

How many of those wins started from grid positions outside the top three rows?

 

I

[jimufctna24]

I agreed with some of his points, but Schumi is top 5 no doubt.

 

One thing I will say though Curry, 1993 in a inferior car Senna proved himself that year. His car was a scaled down version of the Bennaton yet he still beat everyone but Prost in his fantastic Williams, and even then he only won by 20 points or so.

 

Senna is the man for me.

 

EDIT: Add for Lewis like you kinda said wait and see.

Edited October 5, 2012 by jimufctna24

[CurryAngel]

For me, Alonso needs a couple more titles and I'll probably consider him on par with Prost and Schumi and above Senna.

 

I'm assuming everyone has seen the Senna documentary? If so what did you all think of it? I enjoyed it but the biased, one sided nature of it grated on me a bit. Schumacher is vilified for the crash at 60mph with Villeneuve (Telemetry shows Jacques probably wouldn't have made the corner with his banzai move) but Sennas 180mph crash is just brushed off as "Ayrton didn't enjoy winning the title like that".